Listen to the poem on Soundcloud – Gumaan
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Classroom ki chaar deewari ke beech,
lafzoon ke sunehre beenj,
jo aapne hamein baante the us waqt,
unhein aaj ka ye zamaana,
Zulm ki nangi baarish mein taraashta hai.
Nazm ki qismein bohot seekhi thi aap se magar,
Aaj jab ye Qalam hosh sambhalta hai,
Sirf marsiye ke baad hi apne aasteen se nikalta hai.
Kuch khush-gawaar likhna bhi chaahein agar,
to waqt ijaazat nahi deta.
Iraade past kardeta hai,
mayoosi mein dooba ye samaan,
ye aas-paas ki kharaab aab-o-hawa,
gham ke nashe mein lipti ye fiza.
Mausam-e-khizaan ki dhool,
gard ban kar kaagaz par jam jaati hai.
Lafzoon ke maan’e yaad nahi aate.
Aap ko shaayad ye Gumaan nahi tha tab,
Par humko bhi koi gila nahin hai ab.
Kyunke classroom ki chaar deewari mein humne,
lafzoon ke saath saath,
Umeedon ke pul bhi baandhne seekhe the.
Khwaboon ko seencha tha humne,
jabke angoor peekhe the.
Is Ma’soom dil par aapne umeedon ka boj daala tha,
Ladhkhadaati sonch ko aapke asbaaq ne sambhaala tha.
Nadaan khayaal roshan hue the tab Zehen ki safaai mein,
Khwaaboon ki ibteda hui thi, aapki reh-nu-maai mein.
Iqbal ke maanind mujhko bhi,
Yaad aata hai wo guzara hua zamaana,
Wo ground ki bahaarein, wo bell ka cheh-cha-haana,
Jiske dum se tha aabaad, mere bachpan ka aashiyaana.
Aur Iqbal ke maanind hum bhi dhoondlenge,
Is bure waqt mein hasne ko koi ek bahaana,
Koi dil-chasp fasaana,
Koi ek qissa purana.
Sach,
Humko aap se koi gila nahin,
Aap ka bohot bohot Shukriya.
Faqt,
Aapka taalib-e-ilm,
Ilyas.
– Gumaan, 5th September 2019.
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This poem is dedicated to Amtul-Habeeb ma’m and Wahaab ma’m – my Urdu teachers in school who taught me Poetry.
I was one of the very (very) few students who took Urdu as 1st language in school instead of Hindi and I remember them constantly telling me that that I might not find poetry interesting then but as I grow older, I will begin to appreciate it more and more.
They were so right!